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Rolento
is a video game character who debuted as a boss in the beat-em-up arcade game Final Fight, before appearing as a playable fighter in the Street Fighter series starting with Street Fighter Alpha 2. He is a former member of the Mad Gear Gang who is quite very resolved and determined in having to create and establish his own military utopian nation. Biography Appearance Rolento is a muscular, athletic and acrobatic German-American man with solid white eyes (depicted as pupil-less in most official artworks), pronounced jaw and cheekbones, and a scar running down from his forehead through his nose bridge and into the left side of his face. In his appearance in Final Fight 1 and 2, Rolento wore green tiger stripe camouflage fatigues with a scarlet sleeveless-shirt, a brown belt and a brown leather chest-harness with two scarlet grenades. A scarlet beret on his head, brown wristbands, dark-green military equestrian boots and his staff is also dark-green. In the Street Fighter series, Rolento now wears yellow military fatigues with a red scarf on his neck, a brown belt and a brown leather chest-harness with two grenades. A red beret on his head, brown military equestrian boots and brown fingerless gloves, and fights with a green staff and green grenades; the two latter ones changed from a regular green to army-green in Street Fighter Alpha 3. Personality Rolento can be described as a somewhat "twisted" (though very far from being evil) patriot, who consistently bases his entire life, dialogues and behaviors in the "strict military veteran" stereotype, with a rather fanatical zeal. He is often heard praising absolute order and discipline and despising any rebellious or "inadequate" behavior (as seen during his Street Fighter × Tekken interactions with fellow partner Ibuki). Having fought in countless wars, particularly the Vietnam War, Rolento is an expert in guerrilla tactics, psychological warfare and combat weaponry (having shown preference for his staff, knives and grenades), making him a sharp-minded and dangerous ace-in-the-sleeve opponent. His greatest dream is to build a utopia-style military nation, with himself as its supreme ruler; despite this, he would be a benevolent sovereign (in a similar way to Street Fighter III series boss Gill), and his people would ideally be happy, live their plain lives and have freedom to carve their own fates. Any form of violation against the people's rights (dystopia or totalitarianism, as with Urien's evil aspirations opposing Gill's good nature) would be ignoble in his world view. As twisted as he is, his acknowledgement of free will is, perhaps, his most redeeming quality. Rolento is also more than willing to recruit anyone he can, even former enemies like Cody and Guy or fellow ex-Mad Gear Gang criminals like Sodom to this end. Concept According to former Capcom member Seth Killian, Rolento was created by Neo_G (Ishizawa Hidetoshi) and his name was supposed to be "Laurence" when he was in the developmental stages of becoming a character, but due to the L and R confusion in the Japanese language as well as the additions of vowels at the end of words in transliteration, "Laurence" became "Rolento". Judging by Japanese transliteration however, Neo_G may have meant the similar name "Laurent" (ロレント), as Lawrence would have instead been rendered as (ロレンス). Rolento's appearance appears to be heavily inspired by the Colonel, a character from the famous manga/anime series Fist of the North Star. His militaristic tendencies and actions, prior gang membership, and nationality may also derive from the ideas of extremist paramilitary and pro Militia Movement groups that have acted criminally in the United States, in light of Rolento's views currently acting independent of such motives and political stance. Character Relationships Rolento has made many allies and enemies in his quest for an ideal utopian nation, some dating back to his time as a part of the now-destroyed Mad Gear Gang. Allies Sodom While initially hostile against his former Mad Gear comrade, the two share an identical utopia of order, as seen in Street Fighter Alpha 3. Sodom initially thought that Rolento was walking down the path of a madman in a similar fashion to M. Bison until Rolento decided against using the Psycho Drive, and instead swore to destroy it. Holly Wood and El Gado Rolento may be strict when it comes to both order and discipline, but he has been known to treat his subordinates, most notably Holly Wood and El Gado quite very well. Ibuki Rolento sees Ibuki as a useful asset in his utopia and has promoted her several times during the non-canon events of Street Fighter X Tekken. He also seems to put up with her playfulness, as can be seen in their unique cut scene pre-fight intro. The same cannot be said of Ibuki, who sees Rolento as more of an annoyance. Despite this however, the two of them seem to be able to work together at a professional level, although Ibuki herself is quick to criticism towards Rolento, like when it was seemingly his fault that they were not able to secure Pandora's power. Enemies Poison Although the two of them were once allies to each other as a part of the Mad Gear Gang from within the original Final Fight, Poison does not want anything to do with Rolento, having sworn away from anything related to Mad Gear after the downfall and destruction of the criminal organization. Guy As both Rolento and Guy were enemies in Final Fight, their hostilities continue, though much toned down. Cody Like Guy, Cody and Rolento were also enemies in Final Fight, but Rolento is genuinely shocked to see Cody's descent from grace when he became a convict. Of course, Cody wants no part of his utopia. M. Bison Rolento seeks to defeat Bison and destroy Shadaloo so that they don't get in the way of his personal mission to create his military utopian nation. Seth Rolento's target in Ultra Street Fighter IV. When he beats the S.I.N. leader, he even feigns mercy and instead finishes the latter brutally with a grenade attack. Doctrine Dark Rolento fought Dark in a full-on attack and severely wounded him both physically and mentally, earning him the latter's extremely murderous hatred. Story Background According to his original backstory, Rolento is a former member of the fictional US military special forces unit, the Red Berets, explaining his military appearance and skills. However, he eventually left the force and sold himself as a mercenary for hire; information on his career cites him having been in many conflict heavy and civil war torn areas of the world before the 1980s, into Africa, Eastern Bloc Europe, and Central and South America, with having once served under infamous groups such as the East Germany Stasi secret police and Columbian revolutionaries. His last tour of duty was hinted to be that of the Vietnam War, and though he and his company were elite on the field, his experiences in battle and war saw him became disillusioned with the politics and state of the world, and grew to adopt the ambition of building a utopian nation "for the military man, by the military man". Though mentioned only in Street Fighter EX (and despite Rolento never appearing in this sub-series), he and his unit had a run in with the unit of Doctrine Dark, that went from accidental scuffle to a full on skirmish due to ill reputations with one another and an unfriendly rivalry. Having wiped out Doctrine's company, leaving him the sole survivor, it was because of this event that drove him mad, leaving Rolento responsible for his crippled state and psychotic breakdown. After this, his activities caught the attention of U.S. authorities and other rival adversaries, forcing him to return back to the U.S. in hiding. Finding camaraderie and solace in Mad Gear's ideals with his own, Rolento soon struck up old connections, including the early Columbian cocaine trade, to finance the group in Metro City. ''Final Fight'' series Rolento made his first appearance as fourth stage's boss in the original Final Fight. Rolento was put in charge of the gang's secret armory-producing plants in Metro City's industrial area and has great influence. He was defeated by Guy, who scarred him with a thrown shuriken. When defeated, instead of fading away like most enemies in the game, he blows himself up with his own grenades. The Industrial Area stage, and by extension Rolento, was excluded from the SNES version of Final Fight (and its revised rerelease, Final Fight Guy) due to space constraints. Because of this, the developers of the SNES sequel, Final Fight 2, saw fit to include him in the following game to compensate his previous omission. In Final Fight 2, he is the boss of the fifth stage, Italy. His general appearance and fighting style remained unchanged from the previous game, and he is the only returning enemy character besides the Andore Family from the original game. As an in-joke, the Game Boy Advance version, Final Fight One (which included all of the stages and the Alpha sprites of Guy and Cody as bonuses) had an interaction with Alpha Cody and Rolento, where Cody says that he "doesn't remember going to this path". ''Street Fighter Alpha 2 Rolento was the third ''Final Fight character made playable in the Street Fighter Alpha series. He first appears in Street Fighter Alpha 2, following the first game's inclusion of Guy and Sodom, although he previously made a cameo appearance in Sodom's ending in the original game. No longer content with being a lackey for the Mad Gear Gang, Rolento seeks to create his own utopian nation. Sodom tries to convince him to rejoin Mad Gear, but Rolento refuses, saying he has no need for them anymore; Sodom brands him an "arrogant moron" and instead challenges him to a fight. Rolento then encounters Guy, who insults him, saying he hasn't learned his lesson and that he hates slow learners, and Rolento threatens to "rebuild his empire" on Guy's face. In his ending, he makes his move and attempts to start his new nation in Metro City, driving a tank through the business district, and Mayor Mike Haggar is called to stop him. ''Street Fighter Alpha 3 In ''Street Fighter Alpha 3, Rolento remembers Cody as a powerful fighter from the past, and searches for him to try to recruit him into his army. The Cody he finds, however, is in a prison uniform and handcuffs, causing Rolento to become disheartened at his fall. Eventually, Rolento stumbles upon M. Bison's Psycho Drive after stealing weapons from Shadaloo for his army. He learns that the Psycho Drive brainwashes people, and decides against using it in knowing and realizing that a utopia cannot be created if people can't make their own decisions. Sodom, who had tracked Rolento down despite their earlier arguments, hears him proclaim this and realizes that Rolento did not lose sight of Mad Gear's ideals after all. They make up and decide to work together to use those values to make a great utopian nation. ''Ultra Street Fighter IV Yoshinori Ono, producer for ''Street Fighter IV admitted that he liked Rolento's playing style, but he couldn't get into the final game because they needed the Final Fight license from Capcom USA. Oddly, when Super Street Fighter IV came about, two Final Fight characters joined the roster, neither of which were Rolento. However, Rolento did appear in Street Fighter × Tekken, and finally made a playable appearance in the Street Fighter IV series with the release of Ultra Street Fighter IV. Here, after Rolento's army takes part in a conflict(s), Rolento makes a speech to his soldiers about how their mission is to save the world. He receives a report about a private military contractor, S.I.N., which will be testing a new soldier enhancement system (BLECE) at an upcoming tournament. In response, Rolento enters the tournament in order to obtain the enhancement system for himself and his army. In his ending, Rolento confronts and defeats Seth, feigning an offer to make a deal with him, before using the opportunity to finish him off by blowing him up with his grenades. Afterwards, he tells his men that the ruined base now belongs to them, and that they are to scour the ruins for anything they can find. As the soldiers begin to search the base, Seth's heavily-damaged Tanden Engine is shown powering down. Other appearances ''Final Fight Revenge After ''Alpha 3, Rolento then made an appearance in the American-developed Final Fight spin-off game, Final Fight Revenge. His playing style is similar to one he has in the Alpha games and even his storyline is the same (the game takes place between the events of Alpha 2 and Alpha 3). ''Adventure Quiz: Capcom World 2 Rolento also appeared in the Japan-only released ''Adventure Quiz: Capcom World 2. Crossover appearances ''Capcom vs. SNK 2 Rolento appeared as a playable character in the crossover game ''Capcom vs. SNK 2. ''Street Fighter × Tekken Rolento is a playable character in ''Street Fighter × Tekken, where his tag partner is Ibuki. Rolento had sent a request to her village for someone skilled in fighting and infiltration in his search for the Pandora artifact. Due to Rolento's constant orders which she follows reluctantly, and the military titles he bestows on her as their journey progresses, Ibuki does not particularly get along well with her partner. Rolento's Swap Costume is based on Raven's outfit. Nina Williams' own Swap Costume is based on Rolento's outfit. ''Street Fighter X Mega Man Rolento is one of the bosses of ''Street Fighter × Mega Man. His level is designed after the Street Fighter IV stage Skyscraper Under Construction. Animations ''Street Fighter'' 1995 cartoon Rolento appeared in the episode "Final Fight". In the show, he speaks with an Italian accent, wears his 5th color scheme from Street Fighter Alpha 2 and he has the ability to teleport and create clones of himself. ''Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation Rolento makes a cameo appearance as one of the several fighters accompanied by Ryu, Ken, and Chun-Li when they fly out to Dr. Sadler's laboratory. Cameo appearances Rolento makes a small cameo appearance at the end of the ''Sakura Ganbaru! manga along with Dhalsim and his wife Sally, complaining that they never made an appearance (every other playable character in Street Fighter Alpha 2 appeared in either the Street Fighter Alpha manga or Sakura Ganbaru!). Gameplay Fighting style Rolento's fighting style, while officially refered as "Military martial arts", shares similarities to (and is probably inspired by, though not yet confirmed) Bōjutsu, a type of Japanese martial art involving the use of a single staff. His stick fighting lends him range and multiple hitting attacks. The staff also allows him to use attacks such as Trick Landing, a unique property to him where he can do a "second jump". Outside of this, he also relies on the use of disposable weaponry and traps; compared to any who see his style as cowardice and treachery, Rolento considers his tactics and snares the result of "crystallized wisdom" and the ultimate application of knowledge utilized at their greatest. In the Final Fight series, Rolento is known for fighting with a staff, and his special techniques include a wall kick and his throw. When he's low on energy, he begins dashing around the stage and attacks by throwing grenades instead. Rolento's agility and speed carry over to his appearances in the main series, as does his usage of grenades. Rolento is known for his agility and availability in battle, not due to quick movement speed like Chun-Li or mobility of attacks and quick startups like Ibuki but rather he has movements that can allow him to roll back in battle, suddenly jump forward while retreating, move across the screen, and even pogo jump to extend his aerial mobility. This combined with his long ranged attacks and capable anti airs make him one of the hardest non projectile characters to reach in the game Moveset In the Street Fighter series, Rolento is a very evasive character. Many of his special attacks are designed to bait the opponent and strike before they recover. His staff can be used to alter his jump arc and deliver a multi-hit combo attack. He can also throw knives while airborne. During his Super Combo, Rolento tosses a series of grenades that juggle the opponent. His first Ultra Combo knocks the opponent into the air and showers them with grenades after they land. During his second Ultra Combo, he uses a steel cable to strangle the opponent, with El Gado acting as a pulley. Trivia *According to the instruction manual for Final Fight 2, Rolento is 5'9" tall and weighs 187 lbs.[http://www.retrogames.cz/manualy/SNES/Final_Fight_2_-_Manual_-_SNS.pdf Final Fight 2 instruction manual] *In Ken's win quote against Rolento in Ultra Street Fighter IV, the former references the latter's use of a helicopter in Final Fight Revenge. *Rolento's stage in Street Fighter Alpha 2 is a nod to his boss fight in Final Fight, both taking place on a cargo elevator. *He and Cody are the only two characters whose Street Fighter IV theme is not their theme from their first Street Fighter Alpha appearance. *Rolento can be considered "Lawful Neutral" because of his strict belief in order and discipline, as explained above. For this reason, though he envisions a utopia, his methods can be questionable, but he does have noble leanings, such as his non-canon Street Fighter Alpha 3 ending, where he destroys the Psycho Drive because he feels that his utopia is not possible if people do not have their own freedom to choose. *Due to the majority of his attacks being named after the Mekong River Delta in Vietnam, Rolento might have been a veteran in the Vietnam War. His original attire further supports this—tiger stripe camouflage was first worn by the U.S. Army for use in jungle combat in Vietnam. *Rolento's Street Fighter Alpha 2 theme is an arranged version of the Bay Area stage theme from Final Fight. However, he does not make an appearance on this stage, as he is the boss of a different stage, the Industrial Area. As of Ultra Street Fighter IV, Rolento's theme has reverted to his original boss theme. **The Bay Area theme also bears a striking similarity to Heat Man's stage theme from Mega Man 2, and the two are actually remixed together as Rolento's stage theme for the Capcom-sanctioned fangame Street Fighter × Mega Man. *Rolento's Japanese voice actor, Jin Yamanoi, also voiced Street Fighter EX character Vulcano Rosso. *In the original Final Fight, Rolento's dialogue portrait shows him in a color scheme that would later be used for his Alpha 3 appearance. *In the arcade version of Street Fighter Alpha 2, Rolento's stage has a billboard of a woman (dressed up as the Statue of Liberty) holding a computer monitor that has the logo of a Japanese computer company called Fujitsu. But due to legal reasons, this was removed on some console versions. *He, Q, Oni, Urien and Necalli all have the distinction of being able to always interact with defeated opponents in the series, as well as the first (in the Alpha series, Rolento has a win pose where he drops a grenade on the defeated opponent and it explodes). **He is also one of two characters in this category who doesn't specifically interact with the head of their downed opponent. *Rolento, Haggar, Cody and Sodom were some of the available characters in the canceled RPG mobile Capcom Super League Online. Gallery For more of this character, see their gallery. References Category:Final Fight Characters Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Final Fight Bosses Category:Street Fighter Characters Category:Neutral Category:Bosses Category:Fighting Game Characters